Animal Welfare Ranking of Supermarkets

In egg production, the voluntary agreement reached by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL) and the poultry industry to stop routine beak trimming has been in effect throughout Germany since August 2016. Since January 1, 2017, beak trimmed pullets have not been stabulated nationwide (in exceptional cases it is still possible). Nevertheless, inadequate husbandry conditions continue to lead to behavioral disorders such as feather pecking and cannibalism. It is important that not only shell eggs but also eggs used for private label products are produced under better standards (e.g. KAT, Verein für kontrollierte alternative Tierhaltungsformen e. V., supervisory body overseeing the origin and traceability of eggs from alternative poultry husbandry forms). Only three companies (Aldi Süd, Aldi Nord, Globus) are actively working on transitioning the production of these processed eggs to KAT standards.

Since 2021, piglets may only be castrated under anesthesia. This is a major step forward. Nevertheless, the [best alternatives](https://albertschweitzerfoundation.org/news/castration-of-piglets-only-with-anesthesia) from our point of view – immunocastration and raising uncastrated male pigs– are still only rarely used. Only five of the eleven companies surveyed have taken a position on this in their purchasing guidelines. Norma is in favor of immunocastration as part of the gradual abolition of conventional castration while Lidl has made agreements for uncastrated male pigs used for fresh meat. Kaufland is already partially implementing the alternatives of raising young uncastrated male pigs and immunocastration.

Conventional turkey farming is one of the cruelest forms of farming. To date, there are no binding regulations on this, only a voluntary agreement by farmers – and even this was classified as contrary to animal welfare by the Administrative Court in Mannheim in April 2024. By completely phasing out turkey meat, retailers can send an important signal and prevent major animal suffering. Unfortunately, none of the ranked supermarkets and discounters have so far taken any steps in this respect.

Since 2018, we have been in contact with large parts of the food retail industry to discuss how animal welfare standards can be created and raised for aquaculture. This has resulted in the creation of the [Aquaculture Welfare Standards Initiative](https://www.aquaculture-welfare-standards.net/en/) (AWSI), which Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Lidl, the Rewe Group, Edeka Südwest and Kaufland are already part of. The first four companies in particular are well advanced in the transition to an AWSI-compliant certification for animals from aquaculture and the certification of wild-caught aquatic animals – and communicate this relatively transparently and in detail in their animal welfare guidelines. We see shortcomings in all companies in the area of effective strategies for bycatch avoidance.

We see a positive effect of the negative lists, for example, in the fact that »cage-free« is also gaining acceptance for products containing processed eggs. In contrast, there are too few specific and far-reaching requirements to date for aspects such as the exclusion of the sale of lobsters, sharks and cephalopods such as octopuses, and the complete exclusion of live sales.

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of animal products on the environment and on health – and food retailers are well advised to take a more future-oriented approach to alternative, plant-based proteins. While Lidl is already well on its way with its relatively far-reaching goals and measures, the other retailers have apparently not yet recognized the great potential.

Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord each achieve 36% of the possible points and thus take the lead in the ranking. Among other things, the discounters scored points for their animal welfare guidelines for laying hens, chicks and pullets: Aldi is switching its private label products to eggs produced in compliance with KAT standards and reports on this transparently.

Aldi is also making progress with fishes from aquaculture. The discounter is increasingly using certificates that meet the requirements of the Aquaculture Welfare Standards Initiative (AWSI) which guarantee stricter animal welfare criteria. Aldi has also taken steps forward in the certification of wild-caught aquatic animals.

Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have announced that they will completely phase out levels 1 and 2 of the »Haltungsform« label, which are particularly problematic in terms of animal welfare, by 2030. They have already achieved important interim goals in their implementation process. Aldi is also taking the first small steps to increase the proportion of plant-based proteins in its product range – although other retailers in Germany and abroad are already much better positioned in this field.

Tegut is making good progress with implementing the European Chicken Commitment. Another of the company's strengths are the partially comprehensive requirements for certain private labels. However, as these often exclusively apply to individual private label and organic products, only partial points were awarded.

In other areas, the development is less satisfactory. For example, this time the retailer published less detailed guidelines than in 2020. Among other things, we miss concrete targets for increasing the proportion of plant-based proteins and progress in switching to eggs produced in accordance with KAT standards for its private labels. Tegut is therefore the biggest loser percentage-wise and must now even be careful not to be left behind.

Kaufland has slightly improved its overall result. A positive aspect is the broad scope of many of its husbandry requirements.

Unfortunately, Kaufland has still not joined the European Chicken Commitment. The company is also in danger of falling behind the competition when it comes to the protection of fishes and other aquatic animals. There are also obvious weaknesses in the transition of private label products to KAT-standard compliant eggs and in the expansion of the product range in terms of vegetable proteins.

Globus has made a considerable leap forward. In the overall ranking, the supermarket lies only a few percentage points behind the top four companies. This is mainly due to the first-time publication of an explicit and separate animal welfare policy. Globus has joined the European Chicken Commitment and was one of the first companies in Germany to completely phase out eggs from caged hens. The supermarket also improved significantly in almost all other categories assessed. It received high scores for the negative list, for example, which excludes trade in very cruel animal products.

Unfortunately, Globus has not yet set itself any targets for moving away from the legal minimum standard for private label products (comparable to a withdrawal from »Haltungsform« levels 1 and 2). We have also yet to see a strategy for increasing the proportion of plant-based proteins in its product range.

Like Globus, the Rewe Group comes in at 31% based on the data available in December of 2023. With a full and timely support of the European Chicken Commitment and the switch to the corresponding products, Rewe could have been further ahead.

In the Rewe Group's animal welfare guidelines, for example, the relatively high score for dairy cows stands out positively. With regard to the negative list, the supermarket is also doing quite well, although there is still a lack of a complete and animal welfare-friendly phase-out of chick killing (for shell eggs and processed eggs in private label products). On a positive note, we see the planned phasing out of levels 1 and 2 of the »Haltungsform« label, and the progress made on fish standards.

Norma has made up one place since 2020 and almost doubled its result in the overall ranking. The company joined the European Chicken Commitment very early on. Unfortunately, it only achieved scores in the single digits for the animal welfare guidelines for most animal species.

The guidelines for dairy cows and rabbits stand out positively. Norma is also at the forefront in the areas of »cage-free«, the ending of beak trimming as well as chick killing and the targets for increasing the proportion of plant-based proteins in its product range. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to switching to eggs in private label products in accordance with KAT standards. Unfortunately, Norma has also not published any targets for moving away from the legal minimum standard for private label products.

Lidl has slipped several places. We particularly criticize the fact that the discounter still refuses to join the European Chicken Commitment.

One positive aspect is its strategy for plant-based proteins which currently is progressive when it comes to the German market and with which the company has taken the lead in this important area. The discounter wants to increase its proportion of plant-based proteins to 20% by 2030. Most of the plant-based products of the Vemondo private label will also be priced in line with the corresponding animal products.

Lidl is part of the »Haltungsform« program, which the company itself helped to set up. At the time of data collection Lidl had only published a binding target for level 1, but not for phasing out level 2 for all animal species. This is regrettable, as there is only a real chance of raising the minimum standards if the retailers phase out the two worst levels for all animal products. Lidl also has some catching up to do when it comes to the general exclusion of beak trimming and the switch to KAT standards for private label eggs.

Despite improving its result by a good six percentage points, Edeka slipped down several places from the midfield. The fact that the retailer has not yet signed up to the European Chicken Commitment – and that the competition is also taking a much more ambitious approach to other issues – also played a decisive role here.

Although Edeka is a member of the »Haltungsform« program, it is still far behind when it comes to phasing out the particularly problematic levels 1 and 2. Edeka’s animal welfare guidelines range from 0% for geese and ducks to 43% for dairy cows. The predominantly small scope limits Edeka's points: The supermarket often only offers locally limited programs and labels. The company could collect more points with specifications for its entire product range, especially for all private labels. Finally, Edeka has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to phasing out the killing of chicks.

At 15%, Netto is just ahead of Bela, as was the case in 2020. In the last ranking, the lack of meaningful and complete animal welfare guidelines was a particularly major drawback. Netto has only made minor improvements here. The guidelines for dairy cows are a positive exception. Netto also scored slightly with its goal of phasing out »Haltungsform« level 1, although the discounter is significantly weaker than its competitors when it comes to the all-important phase-out of level 2. Overall, Netto still has a lot of catching up to do. The overall result is disappointing.

In 2020, Bela was still in second-last place ahead of Globus, but is now in last place due to Globus’ big leap forward. We can hardly see any improvement compared to 2020. With a few exceptions, the company continues to have far too few specific and comprehensive guidelines. It does not participate in the »Haltungsform« program, nor has it set equivalent targets for moving away from the legal minimum standard for private label products – and it is also in last place by far on the negative list. We cannot find any really positive aspects here.

Our assessment is based on the animal welfare policies of the selected supermarkets and discounters, which were publicly available in December 2023. Companies were given the opportunity to add further public content to the sources we researched before we started our evaluation.

The companies could collect points in the following areas:

1. Animal welfare guidelines for eleven animal groups
2. Negative list
3. Overarching topics

The subject areas were weighted depending on two factors (the annual Germany-wide turnover with the respective animal group and the number of animals slaughtered).

We evaluated the strength and implementation of the measures described in the guidelines (full points were awarded for comprehensive, fully implemented measures) as well as the scope: The guidelines covering the entire range of private labels and manufacturer’s brands received the most points. The overall result of a company per topic (in %) represents the ratio to the possible total number of points.

Detailed information on the methodology used can be found in the ranking [reader](https://albert-schweitzer-stiftung.de/aktuell/supermaerkte-tierschutz-ranking-2024#) (in German).